The INDEPENDENT, March 20, 2008
Page 13
Banks Council told B-V Trail contract is not ready for signatures
In addition to all council
members, the March 11 Banks
City Council meeting was at-
tended by Sam Van Dyke and
Lisa McAllister, who have
agreed to be liaisons between
the Banks Planning Commis-
sion and the council. One or the
other will try to attend the
monthly city council and plan-
ning commission meetings to
provide information about plan-
ning decisions and council
highlights. “How cool is that”
said Mayor Teri Branstitre.
The contract to complete the
Banks-Vernonia Trail project re-
mains unsigned, City Attorney
Jim Lucas told the council, ex-
pressing dissatisfaction with
both Oregon Parks & Recre-
ation Department (OPRD) and
Washington County in fulfilling
their commitment to the Evers
family. As part of a negotiated
settlement and contract, OPRD
agreed in January to cut down
the trees lining the trail and
Evers’ farm, and shade about
two acres of farmland. This is
the only issue standing in the
way of a signed contract, ac-
cording to Lucas and, as of
March 11, the state had not ful-
filled that obligation.
Mayor Branstitre wondered if
the city or council could move
the project along, asking “…can
we just pay for it as a donation
from the city? …We are anxious
to complete this project.” Coun-
cilor Pete Edison asked, “can
this be a volunteer effort?” Lu-
cas concluded that the county
and state parks are looking at
alternatives, which he said was
“kind of disappointing.”
The city has negotiated a
new ten-year franchise agree-
ment with NW Natural Gas. Ja-
nis L Pfannenstiel, of NW Nat-
ural, attended the meeting and
expressed her appreciation to
the city for their patience, say-
ing “We got caught in a log jam
with other city agreements.” A
first reading of the ordinance
amending the franchise agree-
ment was read by the mayor.
Councilor Ron Kemper
asked about progress on the no
parking signage and review of
parking on Ashton Drive. Kem-
per asked for a review of the no
parking designation on Ashton
Drive, which he thinks would be
more appropriate on the other
side of the street. Kemper, who
has already been issued a
parking ticket along with a cou-
ple of his neighbors, said “peo-
ple need notification – this
needs to be a priority,” because
it is unfair to issue tickets when
people have not been in-
formed. Kemper opposed the
newly approved no parking or-
dinance. “It’s on the list, I
haven’t forgotten,” City Manag-
er Jim Hough responded,
adding that the entire city
needs to be reviewed and the
weather has not been the most
cooperative.
Deputy Tran, had planned
on presenting an expanded re-
port at this meeting, but was
called out and was in transit to
the Washington County Jail.
Tran’s supervisor, Sgt. Bob
Ray, who had already planned
to attend the council meeting in
order to learn more about the
city and offer programs that are
obtainable through the sheriff’s
office, introduced himself and
stayed through most of it.
Tran’s report was deferred to
next month’s meeting.
Branstitre proclaimed the
week of March 24–30, 2008, as
National Community Develop-
ment Week. During this week
the citizens in Banks are urged
to recognize the importance of
community development on our
community. The Community
Development Block Grant
(CDBG) Program has operated
since 1974 to provide re-
sources required to meet the
needs of persons of low and
moderate income; and, identify
and resolve pressing local
Community meeting scheduled on UGB
The City of Banks Planning
Commission is starting a re-
view process to consider
amending the City’s Urban
Growth Boundary (UGB). State
law requires that sufficient
buildable lands be provided
within the UGB that is estab-
lished according to statewide
planning goals, to accommo-
date estimated housing needs
for 20 years, plus other require-
ments. The City of Banks has
an updated 20-year population
forecast (3,739 persons), which
has been adopted by both the
City and Washington County.
The Planning Commission
will be conducting a community
meeting on March 25 and in-
vites interested citizens to at-
tend and offer comments about
where the UGB may possibly
be expanded. There will also
be future opportunities during
the process for citizen input.
The City has not yet developed
any UGB expansion proposals
and will be working toward that
in the coming months. The re-
view process is projected for
completion by April 2009, but
there may be revisions that
could extend the completion
date.
The community meeting will
be held shortly after 7:30 p.m.
problems, such as affordable
housing, neighborhood and hu-
man service needs, flood relief,
job creation and retention, and
physical redevelopment.
After meeting with the Ore-
gon Economic and Community
Development (OECD) Depart-
ment about grant money for the
Water Master Plan and Well
No. 2 Interconnect, plus interior
work in the Public Works Build-
ing, Hough reported that there
are no grant monies available.
After exploring loans through a
Special Works Fund (SPWF) or
the League of Oregon Cities
Capital Access Program, he will
prepare a proposal for council.
Hough also reported that the
city is continuing to work on up-
grading the Local Area Network
and the telephone system; that
grant funds would be applied
toward PCN installation and
operating expenses. He and
City Recorder Jolynn Becker
scheduled attendance at a
grant workshop on March 13.
Hough commended the
Banks School District and Ore-
gon First Community Credit
Union for removing sightline
visibility safety hazards along
Main Street. He said the credit
union sightline visibility safety
arc should soon be complete
and that he appreciated the
good will expressed by both or-
ganizations.
The Tree Board has sched-
uled an Arbor Day event in
April, when Banks will receive
Tree City USA certification from
the National Arbor Day Foun-
dation. A tree planting and edu-
cation outreach on trees will be
held. The motto is “the best
time to plant a tree was twenty
years ago; the second best
time is today.”
The next city council meet-
ing will be April 8 in city hall.
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